Trimming machine



June 11, 1929., v v. A. SMITH ET AL 1,716,742

TRIMMMING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 sheets-sheet Y5 INVENTORS VERNON J9. SMITH CHARLES BflC/xMfl/Y BY ATTORNEY Jlm 1929- v. A. SMITH ET AL TRIMMMING MACHINE Filed June 24, 1924 T s 3 N A w w y A 3 MN 5 3 o T Q 1 4 It m m n n m n n q A g aw x. \N k m .5. M .3. ww m June 1 1, 1929- v. A. SMITH ET AL 1,716,742

TRQIMMMING MACHINE- Fild June 24, 1924 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Eatentetl lune l1, i929.

g'l'ATES PATENT orFicE.

vnnnon A. SMITH, or

TRIMMING MACHINE.

Application filed June 24,

Our invention is an improved trimming machine, particularly applicable for trimming the edges on battery separators, and similar products.

In the separator treating process, which is a liquid saponifying process, the separators swell considerably in width, and this increase in width varies slightly in individual separators. After treatment the separators are reduced to the required size in our trimming machine.

The object of our machine is to trim the separators one at a time, the trim being taken at any predetermined point upon adjustment of guides. Another object of. our machine is to provide a trimmer which simple in construction, which will rapidly handle the separators, and which materially reduces the loss incurred in the trimming.

A further object is to provide an automatic means of feeding; the separators into the cutters. p i

Our machine comprises a series of combined mechanisms for handling very thin fragile material, such as storage battery sop arators, feeding them one by one from the bottom of a pile or stack, after flattening the bottom separator byair suction; and engaging it by a pusher plate. The pusher plate accelerates the separator from zero to the speed of a first conveyor, which engages the rear end of the separator from underneath at the center, moves it between side centering l'lllt and passes it onward to guide shoes, which ride in longitudinal grooves in the separator andlreep it accurately centered for subsequent ope at-ions. Side conveyors now engage the work, near its outside edges, travel at higher speed than the center conveyor thereby drawing the work ahead of the center conveyor so that the pusher lug thereon may dip downward behind the separator without tearing; it. The work thus is accurately guided by the shoes at about its longitudinal center, moved by side conveyors, near each c e, to trimming knives operating on the edge. These knives may be stationary,rotating or oscillating slitters'.

Other objects and advantages will be more specifically pointed out in the following detailed description. In the annexed drawing vention illustrated we preferred form, but it may in which our inhave shown the also be embodied 1924. Serial No. 722,166.

in other forms, and in this application we desired to cover our invention in whatever form it may be embodied.

Figure 1 is a plan View of our trimming machine. I

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-8 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4t-4l of Figure 1.

Figure 5is an enlarged view of one of the knives. F igure. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 77 of Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, a platform 1 is mounted upon a plurality of posts 2. A hopper 3, in which the separators are adapted to be placed in position upon the platform 1. The hopper 3'is longitudinally adjustable on the platform 1 in slots 4 in said platform. A vacuum chamher 5 is mounted under the platform 1, and is evacuated by any suitable means. A plurality of holes 6 in the platform 1 communicate with the chamber 5 and are positioned within the hopper 3, thus as the separators lie in the hopper the lower one rests over the holes 6 and a vacuum in the chamber 5 presses the separator flat against the platform 1. This is very essential for the sepafragmentary side raters tend to curl, and consequently will not pass through the knives properly, as will be furtiier described, unless they are started lat.

A pusher plate 7 is reciprocally mounted on a: pair of bars 8, which bars are secured to the platform 1. The forward edge of the plate 7 tapered as at 9 so that the upper l'lOPzllfllOlfS are pushed away from the lower separator which is to be worked upon, thus breaking the cohesion between the various separators and freeing the lower one so that it may be'pushed forwardly. The pusher plate 7 is provided with slots 10 through which bolts 11 extend into a head 12. This head is reciprocated by a cranlt 13, and a link 14 connecting said crank and the l ad.

The crank 13 is an integral part of h 15 which extends through a sleeve 16 journaled in suitable bearings 17. A sprocket- 18 is mounted on the sleeve 16 between the bearings and a chain 19 encircles said sprocket, the object of which will be lurther described.

A nut is threaded on to the end of the shaft 15, and bears against the sleeve 16 so that the sleeve and the shaft will rotate together; the object of this construction is to enable the head 12 and plate 7 to be timed with lugs 21 on the chain 19. The chain 19 encircles a sprocket 22, which is mounted upon a shaft 23, which shaft journalciil i1 suitable bearings 2-l2 l-. The operation of the plate 7 is such that it reciprocz tee from. rest to maximum speed, which maximum speed is at the vertical position of the crank 13, and is the same as chain 19. At this instant the chain 19 must pick up the sepaator by means of the lugs 21 thereon; further the plate must be accurately timed with the lugs so that this object is accomplished.

The pusher plate only extends a short tance into the hopper 3, and nerely Starts the separator forwardly. The rest of it. forward movement is carried out by suit able chains, i. e. 19 and others which will he described.

It is understood that the bottom separator tends to adhere to those above, and must be :arefullly broken away from the pack in the hopper Z) in order that no breakage occurs. This we have accomplished by means of our variable speed pusher '7. The chain 19 e:-:- tends through a slot 25 in the platform 1 to pick up the bottom separator in the. hopper The forward edge of the hopper 3 is placed above the platform 1 the thickness of a separator, and a foot 26 secured to said. hopper bears against the sepa 'ators as they are pushed out of the hopper. A pair of longitudinally positioned frames 27 and 28 are mounted upon screws 29 and. 30. These screws are 3ournaled' in bearings 3l-31 nil 352-452 respectively; sprockets 3b and ill- It (ill be so upon rotation oi the handle 86 the frames towarrs each othr, dependi upon the du etion oi rotation of the screws 22) and Yieldable lingers 3'7 and 3S mounted upon the rear end of the ilrames 27 an respectively, and upon the outer edge t oi. The separator in passing through the fingers 3'7 and 38 will be accilratel -i centered between them. A pair of sprockets 39 an! 41-0 are journaled in the frame 27 and a chain 4-1 encircles said sprockets. A plurality of lugs 42 are formed upon chain 41., the purpose of which will be in 'therdescribed.

The sprocket. 4:0 is keyed upon a sh E3,

which is jourraled in bearings d%ll%l; and

stantly driven thereby. The frame 28 is provided with sprockets l6 and i? paw naled therein, the sprocket 4;? being keyed upon the shaft 43 in the same way that the sprocket all is keyed thereupon. These sprockets are encircled by a chain do, upon which chain lugs -17 are 'ti'vrined.

A sprocket 48 is mounted upon the sha 2-3 and a sprocket 49 is mounted on shaft 2 which sprockets are encii by a chain in which manner the shaft 2 :3 drive-i. The shaft 23 positioned approximately at the center of the frames 27 and 28, conse quently the separators are carried by the chain 19 to this point. The lugs, 42 and d? on the chains 41 and 1 6 engage the sepa ator, and continue its forward moveu'ient, after it leaves chain'19. The sprockets l0 and a? have one more teeth than the sprocket 22, which gives the chain; 421 and i6 a very slightly greater speed, thus the sepa 'ator in progressing through on trimmer graduall picked up by the lugs 42 I y and l7 on chains ll and i6 and carried away from the lugs 21 on the chain 19. This prevents any splitting of the sepa arm when the lug 21 is moved downwardly in its travel over the sprocket 22.

'ihettrames 27 and 28 are provided with earingplates 51 and 52 respe 'tively which press upon the outer edge of the separator L 4 ,e I a nd hold it in perlect horizontal alignment; guide shoes and 5d adpistably mounted on straps 55 and 56, which straps extend across the' bearings 3i and These shoes are adjustal'le tnnsversely and are adapted to ei'igage the groores in the sepa rator so that these sepa 'ators will be accurately guided in their travel through the knives, as will be further described. as shown in Figure at. It is understood that the grooves are variously placed in the separators, consequent-- ly an adjustment is necessary. These shoes also serve to press the central part of the separator downwardly, and to keep it llai at a ll times.

As far as described, it will be seen that e separator is first ca led al mg by a sun ies it betw en yieldable linges, which bear against the side of the separator, and accurately center it, to engage the guidii shoes 53 am: 5%. This centering can readily take place about the single pushing lug,

{1' against the ccnte" thereof which whereas two or more actuating lugs would make this practically impossible. Once it is centered and accurately held in this nosition' by the guide shoes 53 and 5%, the separator is guided by two chains with lugs thereon, and carried throughthc knives.

As here illustrated, the trimming knives are stationary, and it will be readily understood that either rotary or oscillating knives may be employed without departing from the spirit of our invention. The knives upon the frames 27 and 28 being identical only one will be described. A knife 57 is held in position by a plate 58 bolted to the bearing 52, and a second knife 59 is mounted below the knife 57 and acts therewith to cut the separator. The knives 57 and 59 are set at avery slight outward angle so that after the separator is cut it will pass freely from the knives without splitting.

This is a mere detail of construction quite important in the successful operation at high speed of our machine.

Fro1n Figure 6 it will be seen how the knives engage the outer edge of the separators and sever this edge. The operation of our machine is as follows A plurality of separators are stacked one.

above the other in the hopper 3, and the machine is started by rotating the pulley. which rotates shaft- 43 driving chains ll and 46, the shaft 2", chain 19 and crank 13. The plate 7 is thus reciprocated from the link 14 which pushes the bottom separas tor forwardly/as described. One of the lugs 21 now picks up the separator, carries it out of the hopper 3 between the-centering fingers 37 and 38, and into the guides'53 and 5st. The separator is now held securely in a contered position, and as the chainlt) continues to carry it forwardly, the chains 41 and 16 pick it up and carry it between the knives 57 and 59 where the outer edge is cut oil.

Our machine will operate on battery separaters which are very wet, almost like 'a jelly, or the dry thin si'zparators, n'y suction flattens the bottom'one of a stack, by means of the pusher plate 7 slightlyraises the stack aboye the bottom separator and accelera es it to the speed of the pushing hip; 21 on the chain 19, engaging the center of the work; This allows the separator to be accurately centered between yieldable fingers 37 and 38 1 engaging each edge and while so centered the guide shoes 53 aml 54; enter grooves in the midportion, forming longitudinal center guides. W'hile guided the drive is taken from the single center (ha-i n 1.9 to side chains 41 and 46 having pushing higs 412' audit, which engage the work near itsouter edges andthe outer chains moving at higher speed than the cent-er chain draw the work ahead the lug 21 will. not tearthc piece in pas ing downward at the sprocket 22. The outer drive chains and their pusher-lugs co operate with the bearing plates 51 and 52 to hold the edges while the knives sever the surplus material.

i The methods previously employed con-' sisted in stacking a plurality of separators upon a flat surface to align one edge, and cutting the entire surplus from the other edge. This resulted in a great deal of waste due to splitting of the separators, and because it was practically impossible to cut the edge square. It is readily understood that separators are avery accurately nachined piece of wood, upon which a micrometer is placed to gauge its thickness,'and its width must be just as accurately determined.

In our machine each separator is handled individually; the surplus is cut equally from both sides, or as predetermined by position of guides,and is then carried into a basket container for use.

- Having described our invention,- we claim: 1.. A trimming machine comprising in combination a hopper adapted to contain a stack of pieces of work, a pusher plate to move the bottom piece in a longitudinal di rection, a center conveyor to engage the piece, means to accelerate the pusher plate to the speed of the center conveyor, yieldable side guides to center the piece in relation to the center conveyor, guide shoes to engage the piece between its edges and prevent lateral movement thereof, side conveyors to take the piece from the center conveyor and operating at a higher rate of speed andv knives to trim the piece.

2. A trimming machine comprising in combination a platform, a hopper on the platform adapted to contain a stack of pieces of work, anair suct-ion operative through the platform underneath the hopper, a pusher plate having a tapered portion and an end to engage the bottom piece in a stack, a center conveyor having a lug to engage a piece from underneath, means to move the pusher plate in the same direction as the center conveyor with accelerated speed from zero to that of the said conveyor and thereby transfer a piece from the pusher plate to the center conveyor at the speed of the latter, side guides adapted to ensmge the edges or a piece and move itlaterally to center in.

relation to the center conveyor, guide shoes to engage the piece between it" side edges and prevent lateral movement thereof, side conveyors operating along a surface of piece, overlapping the center conveyor and operating at a higher rate of speed and timed to engage and draw apiece ahead of the lug onthe center conveyor and knives contiguous to the side conveyors to trim apiece.

A trimn'iing machine comprising'a platform, hopper on said platform, a pusher plate adapted to enter said hopper, and start to advance the work therein, means to recap rocate said pusher, a single conveyor QX tending through said hopper, a pair of second conveyors extending from the first conveyor, and knives positioned adjacent the second conveyor against which the work is carried.

4. A trimming machine comprising a platform, a hopper on said platform, a pusher plate adapted to enter said hopper and advancethe work therein, means to reciprocate said pusher, a chain conveyor extending through said hopper, lugs on said chain to engage the work, a pair of chain conveyors; lugs on said chains to engage the work and advance it from the first chain, and knives positioned adjacent said pair of chains to trim the edges of the work.

A trimming mac-hi .c comprising a platform, a hopper on said platform, a pusher plate adapted to enter said hopper and advance the work therein, means to reciprocate said'pusher, a chain conveyor extending through said hopper, lugs on said chain to engage the work, a pair of frames, a chain conveyor journaled in each frame, means to drive said ctmveyor, lugs on each conveyor to eng ge the well means to transversely adju: s id frames, and knives mounted on the rear end of said frames.

G. A trimming machine comprising a platform, a hopper on said platform, a pusher plate adapted to enter said hopper and advance the work therein, means to reeiproca said pusher, a chain conveyor ex'cnding through said hopper, lugs on said chain to engage the work, a pair of frames, a chain conveyor journalcd in each frame, means to drive said conveyor, lugs on each conveyor to engage the'work, screws tlireaded through said frames, means to rotate said screws to transversely adjust said frames, and knives mounted on said frames.

7. A trimming machine comprising a platform, a hopper on said platform, a pusher plate adapted to enter said hopper and advance the work therein, means to reciprocate said pusher, a chain conveyor extending tarough said hopper, lugs on said chain to engage the work, a pair of frames, achain conveyor journaled in each frame, means to drive said conveyor, lugs on each conveyor to engage the work, means to transversely adjust said frames, yicldable fingers mounted on the forward end of said frames to align the work. guide shoes adapted to engage groores in the work, means to transversely adjust said shoes, and knives mounted on the rear end of the frames.

8. In a trimming machine a platform upon which pieces of work may be placed, a pusher plate movable thereover to advance a piece, an endless conveyor to engage a piece and move it in the same direction as the pusher plate, means to accelerate the pusher plate from Zero speed to that of the conveyor said co veyor and pusher plate being timed to carry on the piece without slackening of its speed.

9. In a separator trimming machine of the character described, a platform allowing a stack of separators to be placed. thereon, means for supportim;- the stack allowing the lowermost separator to be pushed from underneath the stack tl'n'ough a narrow slot, suction means active on the hottom face of the lowermost separator for flattening the same and aligning, the same with the slot and areciprocating pusher arranged to suecessively push the separators throueh the slot the pusher presenting a front edge substantially of the thickness of the separator and inclining upwardly from the frontedge for slightly lifting the remainder of the stack from the lowermost separator and breaking adhesion bet-ween the two bottom separators. i

10. In a separator trimming machine of the character described, a platform allowing a stack of separators to he placed thereon, means for supporting the stack allowing the lovuninost separator tohe pushed from underneath the stack through a slot and a reciprocating pusher arranged to successively push the separators through the slot, the pusher presenting a front edge substantially of the thickness of the separator and inclining upwardly from the front edge for slightly lifting the remainder of the stack from the lowermost separator and breaking adhesion between the two bottom separators.

11. In a separator trimming; machine of the ch ractcr described, means for confining a stack of separators formed with a s otallowing the lowermost separator to he pushed there-through, a reciprocating; pusher engaging, the separator is hslanlially along the entire rear edge thereof and timed to gradually increase from zero to ma speed for advancing the separator into the slot and a second pusher timed to correspoinl to the maximum speed of the first pusher and to assume the load when the first pusher reaches the end of its travel, the second pusher engagingtl 2, rear edge of the separator at its center so as to allow the later to swing sidewise thereon.

12. In a separator trin'nuing machine of the character described, means for confining a stack of separators formed with a slot allowing the lo -cermost separator to be pushed there-through, reciprocating pusher engaging the separator substantially along the entire rear edge thereof and tin ed to gradually increase fro ,1 zero to maximum speed for advancing the separator into the slot and a second pusaer engaging the rear edge of the separator and timed to correspond to the maxium speed of the first pusher and to assume the load when the first,

pusher reaches the end of its travel and elastic elements engaging the sides of the separator 'l'or guiding the same into a desired direction.

13. In a machine for trimmin separators, cutting blades arranged in spaced relation for trimming the edges of aseparator; a

central conveyor for advancing the separator; means for guiding and centering the separator on said conveyor; and side con veyors operating at a higher rate 0t speed than the central conveyor for taking the separator from the center conveyor and ad-- vancing the same toward and into engagcment with the blades.

14;. In a machine tor trimming separators, cuttu tor t imn'nngthe edges of a separator; a central conveyor tor advancing the separator; means for guii'ling and centering the separator upon the conveyor; and means enblades arranged-in spaced relationv for trimming the edges of a separator; a central conveyor for advancing the separator; means for guiding and centering the separator upon the conveyor; means engaging the rear edge of: the separator in the immediate proximity of the side edges thereof for advancing the same toward the blades with a higher rate of speed than the speed of the central conveyor, said last means overlapping the central conveyor; and means for simultaneously adjusting the spacing of both blades relatively to a center line. v

16. In a machine for trimming separators cutting blades arranged in spaced relation for trinnning the edges of a separator; a central conveyor-tor advancing the separa tor; means for guiding and centering the separator upon the conveyor; and sideconveyors operating along a surface of the separator,.overlapping the center conveyor and operating ata higher rate of speedso as to draw the separator toward the blades ahead of the center conveyor.

In testimony whereof We afiix our signatures.

VERNON A. SMITH. CHAS. BACKMAN. 

